Saturday, February 28, 2009

As with previous months, the responsibilities of my expanded job position and ups and downs in my personal life have prevented me from blogging as regularly throughout February as I would have liked. Thus, affecting my Year Three in Preview, where "posts of present accounts of being will end with 'a year ago- and two years ago- today' links to the past of becoming until the third year comes full circle and the 'Becoming a New Yorker' blogtale is complete."

Thursday, February 26, 2009

There is something I find endearing about seeing tourists carrying their little New York City guide books ... maybe because I was one of them once."Things I Love" Thursdays are inspired by "I Love New York" (BNY, February 14, 2007).

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Highlights of the past week:- Returning from the Caribbean ... not free- Attending the premiere of "Madea Goes to Jail" ... free- Lower-level tickets to the Duke game in Madison Square Garden ... free- Friday morning bagel with Lox cream cheese ... not free- Lower-level tickets to the Nets game at the Izod Center ... free- Round-tripNJ Transit rail ticket to get to watch the Nets play the Wizards ... not free- Good, hard Saturday morning work-out ... not free- Placing third in a scavenger hunt at the Museum of Natural History ... free- Celebrating said victory in an Upper West Side bar with friends ... not free (would have been free if we had won)- Having wonderful friends ... free

The good things in life are not free ... the great things in life are.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

It may be just a coincidental pattern, but some of the best recollections of pivotal moments in my life have fallen on Thursdays. Maybe it's true what they say about the power of positive thinking. In any case, today's Thing-I-Love Thursday is "movie premieres."

Who doesn't love movie premieres? Whether you are the quintessential New Yorker, born and raised, who simultaneously loves and hates everything that makes this city what it is -- or the trite and contrived wanna-be, who - in an effort to feel like less of an outsider - does not respect their role as a transplant New Yorker -- either way, it's cool as hell to turn a corner in the streets of Manhattan and roll up on an A-list celebrity event (no matter how long you've lived here as noted in Exhibit A or Exhibit B). But how cool would it be if you were ever actually invited?

I found out on Tuesday morning when my best friend called me on my cell phone. I slipped out of my cubicle and into my boss's empty office to take the call.

"Guess who's coming to tomorrow night's premiere?" she squealed. With a small - yet substantial role - in Tyler Perry's latest film, she was in New York, crashing at my apartment and meeting with her agent, publicist and stylists for Wednesday night's red carpet event at the AMC Loews on the Upper West Side. Not to mention that a BET camera crew would be following her through her premiere day preparations. When she walks out of an apartment door in Hell's Kitchen and introduces herself, I am proud to say that the apartment door would be mine. (The previous sentence is meant to be read using Chandler-from-"Friends" inflection.)

Looking out over my boss's high-rise view of Bryant Park, I blurted out viscerally, "Denzel Washington!"

"Nope," she replied. Michelle Obama. Nope. Oprah? Nope. Angela Bassett? Nope. Will Smith? Nope. Diddy? Nope. I went through my personal list of top Black actors and entrepreneurs. Impatient, she began to drop hints.

"She's a secretary."

"... Of State?" I said. "Hillary Clinton?"

"No!" she finally exclaimed. "You!"

"Me?!?!?!" I could barely contain my excitement, jumping up and down and struggling to keep from screaming in my boss's office. However, there was one issue that I had to address before I let the exhilaration consume me. I momentarily stopped bouncing around the office and said matter-of-factly: "But, Tokii ... I'm not a secretary. I'm an executive assistant."

With less than 24 hours to the premiere, I left my office immediately after work and went hunting for a dress, which I found quickly and easily at a store in Columbus Circle. I wanted to find something classy, but not overdone. Something that looked like I was meant to be there, but didn't look like I was trying too hard. Something that said, I'm so proud of my best friend and put careful time and thought into honoring this invitation, but without drawing unnecessary attention. How does one dress for a movie premiere? That's already a tough question for the people who actually have to fear widespread post-event wardrobe criticism. It's an even tougher question for someone who was just invited solely because their friend's agent was able to get an extra ticket. I went with a low-cut, sleeveless black trench dress that seemed appropriate for a guest of an actor and was also appropriate for my wallet - especially after I applied the $100 American Express gift card that my boss had given me recently.

When I arrived at the theater, I met my best friend's agent at the side entrance and we found a front-row spot near the end of the red carpet, adjacent the E! and BET camera crews. The stars arrived, one by one, pausing expertly with their best angles projected toward multiple shutters. I waited eagerly, tiny digital camera at the ready, for when I would see her appear on the red carpet, and only slightly aware that I was lightly trembling and intermittently forgetting to breathe. As the seconds ticked away, I tried to mentally process what was happening immediately in front of me. And to enjoy the moment. Because, from what I've perceived of an industry like Hollywood, you have to indulge in each blessing you receive. Actors - and the people who know and love them - can just never be sure when their next blessing will come around. One moment you might be the next up-and-coming sensation, another moment you might wine-and-dine at the very top of the A-List, the next - the tabloids are publishing your most unattractive photos and reveling in your demise.

And as I stood gazing down the red carpet, watching the shutters flash and the reporters thrust their microphones into the faces of Tyler Perry, Derek Luke, Keshia Knight Pulliam, Sofia Vergara, Mary J. Blige, and Ray J. to name(drop) a few, I thought about how much work has gone into these few strolling red carpet moments. And I don't just mean the rolling out of the carpet and setting up of the lights. As often happens whenever I get exciting news regarding my best friend's acting career, I could not stop the mental reel of flashbacks over the last ten years - filled with shining moments and false hopes, extreme highs and incredible disappointments, a rollar coaster of emotions, physical strife and the risks of the unknown, all which leave you simultaneously anticipating the next thrill and dreading the next fall. I'm not going to go into the clichés of Tokii's starving actor story, but the clichés for actors - or anyone with a dream - are the mere truths of entire lives - most of which goes unseen, unnoticed, unacknowledged, unrewarded. The camera catches the glamour of the Hollywood red carpet, but not many outsiders really comprehend the volumes of proverbial blood, sweat and tears that go into a few snapshots and sound bites. I certainly don't have a fundamental grasp of it all - at least not more than peripherally.

And then, there she was. My best friend. Smiling for the wide-angle lenses and chatting comfortably with reporters. As I strained to get a shot of her on my own tiny Canon digital camera, a bodyguard poked a little fun at me: "Why are you taking that picture from so far away?"

"Leave her alone," a woman wearing a headset and carrying a clipboard said over his shoulder, "She's with the talent."

In characteristically-corny-Katie, the headset-and-clipboard-woman's brief statement went on repeat in my head. She's with the talent. If I were a peacock, I would have been slowly pacing along the end of the red carpet with a huge, open plume of feathers. If pride were helium, my head might have exploded.

"Why don't you go out on the red carpet and get a closer shot of her?" the bodyguard whispered to me.

"No way!" I hissed back. "I can't do that."

"Sure, you can," he insisted. "Hurry before you miss all the good shots."

I hesitated, too timid to set a foot on the red velvet in front of me. The simultaneous anticipation and fear of the unknown washed over me, much the way it did when I was riding up I-81 to begin my new life in New York City over three years ago. Much the way it did when I went apartment and job hunting to open the next chapter of my life. The risk of embarrassment at being shooed away as an outsider on this coveted Hollywood landscape loomed. But the idea of the personal shots I could get of my best friend being interviewed and photographed sparked some courage. I leaned toward him, "Will you go with me?"

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

What did you learn from waiting tables?Ayoka L., Charleston, SC"If you wait tables in New York, you can do any job in the world..."Not a quote of the day, week or month. Just of whenever. Until the next quote that moves me.

Monday, February 09, 2009

Yesterday, I started blushing like a school girl when my boss asked our Co-CEO if she and I had met ... and, much to my surprise, our Co-CEO replied to my boss that she was my biggest fan. Our Co-CEO looked over her shoulder to where I was waiting to hand my boss a stack of reports and smiled, "You knew that, right?"

Saturday, February 07, 2009

A good friend, and fellow anonymous NYC blogger, gave me a pair of sixth row tickets to Tuesday's Nets game, which I gave to my roommate and the girl sleeping on our couch. A proud and indefinite inhabitant of our Hell's Kitchen apartment since December 29, she's like our own Half Baked "Guy on the Couch" - without the plume of smoke. Since relocating from Phoenix, she's been looking for employment in the city, and though I'd love to use my blog to foster networking opportunities for her, I live in morbid fear of creepy cyber stalkers. However, if any of my NYC blogger friends - with whom I've developed legitmate relationships - have any leads, please email them to my personal email account. She has a B.A. in Elementary Education and is considering any teaching opportunities and nanny positions.

I went to see Wicked with my aunt and cousin, visiting from Upstate New York and Syracuse respectively. Add it to your Broadway must-sees. We also ate at one of my favorite Italian spots Roberto Passon and tried a sushi spot across from the Gershwin Theatre called Bluechili.

A quarter-of-a-million dollar house sat on my couch - in the form of a 5-carat diamond engagement ring (phone photo op below).

My best friend was crashing at our apartment while she was in the city to consult with her agent, publicist, wardrobe stylist and hair and make-up artist regarding next week's red carpet premiere of Madea Goes to Jail, in which she plays in her first major onscreen role!

*Note: Results not typical of most weeks as a resident of New York City.

Thursday, February 05, 2009

The origin of the definition to "go postal" may very well lie at 23 West 43rd Street, where the postal workers of the Bryant Park Post Office will do anything in their power to ensure that you are having as bad a day as they are by the time you walk out with your book of stamps. I can always count on them to be abrupt, irritated and rude. Their consistency is comforting.

Rather than despise their attempts to spread worldwide exasperation, I love them for it. Sometimes when I've experienced way too many unwelcome surprises in the office, I venture down the street to the postal sanctuary, where I know I will find a familiar scowl to remind me that no matter how bad my day has been, postmarking boxes and redirecting customers to the proper mailing forms is always worse. The sky is always bluer when I exit that place.

Except for the little Asian woman with the photos of her family at the far corner counter. And I'm not just saying that because I'm half Filipina, but she is the only one I have ever seen smile, bid me good day, or not talk to me like she is chewing my face. I avoid her when I am having exceptionally bad days."Things I Love" Thursdays are inspired by "I Love New York" (BNY, February 14, 2007).

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

A few months ago, I took a picture of Joe Ades on my camera phone and forgot to blog about the entertaining potato peel sales demonstration that Terrence and I watched one Saturday afternoon at the Farmer's Market in Union Square. You rarely witness people, who truly love what they do, in the middle of what they're doing.

Quotable NYC

"Courtney's early chitchats with me were not filled with that kind of insane intensity that really naive people have when they're fresh off the boat in New York ..."~ Alan Hunter, Former MTV VJ, of Courtney Cox, E! THS "Friends"

"One belongs to New York instantly, one belongs to it as much in five minutes as in five years."~ Thomas Wolfe

"It would be childish of us to deny that our lives weren't changing. But for this night, none of us were going anywhere. That's the thing about really good friends and a really great Manhattan."~ Carrie, "Sex and the City"

More Quotable NYC

"In Washington, the first thing people tell you is what their job is. In Los Angeles you learn their star sign. In Houston you're told how rich they are. And in New York they tell you what their rent is."~ Simon Hoggart

"I can't wait to get back to New York City where at least when I walk down the street, no one ever hesitates to tell me exactly what they think of me."~ Ani Difranco

“It’s not the meaning of life, Alfred, it’s the feeling of life. Look at that park down there! Just think of how many loves lost and found in it, how many first kisses kissed, how many Frisbees lost, and just remember that is your park, my friend. And you've got your whole life to walk though it.”~ Zak Orth to Freddie Prinze Jr. referring to Central Park in Down to You (2000)

"Practically everybody in New York has half a mind to write a book - and does."~ Groucho Marx

"There's a spot in Central Park ... where if you sit there long enough, the entire city walks by."~ Matthew Perry to Salma Hayek in Fools Rush In (1997)